Robert Ivy Set To Receive The Lifetime Achievement Award

The Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters (MIAL) has announced that it will honor the Chief Executive Officer of the American Institute of Arts, Mr. Robert Ivy with its Noel Polk Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Ivy was elected as the CEO of the American Institute of Arts in February 2011 and has since lifted the status of the institution to international levels. AIA is a government institution charged with the responsibility of licensing qualified architects around the country.

Following the announcement, Mr. Ivy will become the first architect to receive the Polk award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. The institute usually awards active Mississippi-connected patrons and artist according to architectmagazine.com. Mr. Robert Ivy, therefore, joins a growing list of prominent people who have performed exemplary work in Mississippi. Previous honorees who have received the same award include writer Shelby Foote who received the award in 2004, actor Morgan Freeman who was awarded in 2007, the late artist Walter Anderson of 1989, singer Leontyne Price of 2000 and writer Eudora Welty who scooped the award in 2001.

The president of the American Institute of Arts, Carl Elefante welcomed and praised Robert Ivy’s selection terming him as a great ambassador for the institution. “I have worked with Robert Ivy for a long time and I know that he is a hardworking person. Since his appointment as the CEO of AIA, the institution has made great strides that had never been witnessed” commented Carl. Mr. Carl said that the Lifetime Achievement award was one of the best ways of recognizing the professional achievements made by Robert Ivy as a native from Mississippi.

It is also important to note that Mr. Ivy has also previously received major awards such as the Dean’s Medal awarded by the University Of Arkansas Fay Jones School Of Architecture in 2017, he has was also named the Master Architect by the national architecture fraternity Alpha Rho, among others. Robert Ivy served as the Chief Editor of the Architectural Records before being appointed as the Chief Executive Officer at the American Institute of Architects. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a membership organization of architects and designers. AIA now has more than 90,000 architect and design members throughout the US.

Mr. Robert Ivy will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award together with stained-glass designer Andrew Cary Young (of Pearl River Studio) on June second at the special event which will be held at the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. Mr. Ivy said that he was overjoyed to receive the news and was looking forward to the day.